2014 Outlook For Mobile App Developers

Over the last decade mobile has moved from being a nascent outlier technology to the mainstream. It is a part and parcel of almost every IT company’s technology and business practice today. Additionally, as mobile penetration increases and businesses better understand how mobile is changing the way consumers behave, the demand for technical skills in this area is growing even in industries outside the IT arena. The corollary to this is that there is a premium on strong skills in this domain.

According to hiring managers and IT recruiters, the global demand for skilled & talented mobile application developers still far exceeds the supply. Some of the most popular industries hiring mobile app developers include video game studios, advertising and marketing firms that aim to build branded application for clients, media firms that recognize mobile as a powerful content distribution channel, government agencies and financial institutions that want to bring their core services to mobile users, software development firms and real estate agencies.

The global job market for mobile application developers is expected to skyrocket by 32% through 2020, creating close to 300,000 new positions and heralding one of the decade’s largest increases for any occupation (IT or otherwise). The lion’s share of these opportunities will be in Android and iOS app development as these giants represent close to 90% of all smartphones in circulation in the U.S which is a major market for software products and services.

(Ref : Web & Mobile Application Development)

In India, a 2014 TOI article listed Mobile Apps as one of the 5 top hot job options for IT postgraduates with an emphasis on knowledge and experience in Android, iOS, HTML5, Javascripts and mobile networks, mentioning. The growth in the number of mobile users and rapid penetration of mobile devices, is expected to lead to a huge demand in the mobile application development sector.

(Ref : 5 hot job options for IT postgraduates)

The 2013 Kelly Services Salary Guide indicated that Android & iphone mobile developers with 4-15 years of experience were very much in demand and see double digit hike in their salaries. Android developers with 4-8 years experience command salaries in the 5-14L range while iOS developers in the same range command salaries in the 7-16L range.

(Ref : Kelly Services India 2013 Salary Guide )

According to IT CareercFinder in-demand skill sets for mobile application developers include: fluency in object-oriented programming languages such as Java, Objective-C and C++, familiarity with the development environments of one or more the top mobile OSes, knowledge of terminology, concepts, and best practices for coding mobile applications.

While typical day-to-day duties for mobile application developers include:
• code, test, debug, monitor and document changes for mobile applications

• migrate and adapt existing web applications to the leading mobile platforms.

• implement application programming interfaces (APIs) to support mobile functionality

• work closely with other departments to brainstorm and optimize deployments.

• recommend changes and enhancements to existing mobile applications.

Source: webapptech.net